Natural hazards · Clifton

Clifton, MN natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Clifton comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is moderate for a U.S. community.

FEMA National Risk Index, December 2025 · OpenFEMA claims, aid & declarations

Expected damage

How exposed is Clifton?

Moderate

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Clifton to be higher than in 55% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding and cold waves.

Inland flooding50%Cold waves21%Strong wind9%Hail8%Tornadoes7%Everything else5%

By hazard

What Clifton faces

Each hazard’s share of the damage FEMA expects here, and how that compares with the rest of the country.

Inland flooding

50% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 76% of U.S. places

Recorded about once a year in the area

Cold waves

21% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 65% of U.S. places

Recorded about 14 times a year in the area

Strong wind

9% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 92% of U.S. places

Recorded about 3 times a year in the area

Hail

8% of expected damage

Below average · higher than 33% of U.S. places

Recorded about 4 times a year in the area

Tornadoes

7% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 75% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 5 years in the area

Lower here

Ice stormsWinter weatherHeat wavesWildfireEarthquakesLandslidesLightning

Not a risk here

Coastal floodingHurricanesDroughtAvalanchesTsunamisVolcanic activity

Flood risk changes street by street. Check a specific address on FEMA’s flood map, and ask about flood insurance before you buy.

Flood insurance claims

Does Clifton flood?

FEMA's records show no paid flood insurance claims in Clifton.

of all homes
are insured

No community discount. Clifton isn’t in FEMA’s Community Rating System, which cuts flood insurance up to 45% in towns that do extra flood-proofing.

Insurance rates: Traverse County.

Disasters that hit Clifton

Federal disasters declared here

None of the disasters declared for Traverse County shows FEMA aid or repair money reaching Clifton itself in FEMA’s records.

Brought FEMA money into CliftonDeclared for Traverse County only

Traverse County has had 20 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often floods and severe storms.

Around Clifton

Clifton and the towns around it

Very lowLowModerateHighVery high

Cliftonmostly inland floodingModerate

Lake Valleymostly inland floodingModerate

Redpathmostly inland floodingModerate

Dollymountmostly inland floodingModerate

Loganmostly inland floodingModerate

About these numbers

How to read this page

An average, not a forecastFEMA’s National Risk Index estimates the damage 18 kinds of natural hazards cause in a typical year, from decades of records and models. A quiet decade can follow a bad year.

Compared by rate“Higher than N%” compares yearly damage as a share of what’s here, so a big city isn’t rated riskier just for having more buildings. Clifton is smaller than a census tract, so it shares the figures of the tract around its center.

Money that reached townFlood claims are matched to Clifton’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the Township of Clifton. FEMA’s model follows property values, so a place that recently lost many homes can rate lower than it feels.

Sources: FEMA National Risk Index (December 2025); OpenFEMA: NFIP redacted claims, multiple-loss properties, community status book and residential penetration rates, housing assistance (owners and renters), public assistance funded projects, hazard mitigation properties and disaster declarations. Census tracts: U.S. Census Bureau.